Aeroplane.



:Ir HUGHES.

AEROPLANB. APPLICATION TILED MAY 14, 1910.

-yamnta May 9, 1911.

:z sums-SHEET 1,

R, www mw m 5w m wm, J

.m AW LA? J. HUGHES.

AEROPLANE.

APPLIUATION FILED M1114, 1910.

Patented May 9, 1911.

2 sEBETksHBET 2.

Syvum/vbo@ beneath a number of superimposed einen sierras rnainnrformel-..

JOHN HUG-HES, OF BAKER, MNTANA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO HELEN TRACY, GF

ANDES, SOUTH. DAKQ'A. I

Annemans.

Specification of Letters atent.

'Patented May 95,. 193i.,

Application tiled liay le, 1910. Serial Eo. 561,285.

To all whom 'it may concern:

le it known that l, .lonzv lllonus, a citi zen of the United States,residing; at Baker, county of Custer, and State of vlontana, haveinvented certain new and uset'nl lmprovements in Aeroplanes, of whichthe tollowing is 'a specitieation. A

My invention relates to aeroplanes. and the object of my invention is toprovide an aeroplane ot improved construction whereb'y perfect, orsubstantially pertect` equilibrium is assured and wherein planes ot muchsmaller dimensions may be employed than are now generally considerednecessary.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved aeroplanecapable of traveling both on land and through the air and equipped withits own motive power capable of imparting to the device its initialmomentum necessary tobegin its flight.

A further object ot my invention is to provide a device as mentionedwherein the motor may be coupled to propelling mecha- ,nism for drivingthe same on land or to propelling mechanism for driving the same throughthe air and wherein the change may he made readily from one, to theother as desired.

A further objectof my invention is to provide improved means forsteering or guiding the device either on land or in the lair.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

My invention will he more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which-Figure l is a side elevation of an aeroplarye embodying my invention inits p referred form, Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line -woFig. l, Fig-3 is va rear elevation of the lower portion of the device,and Fig. fl is a detail view upon an enlarged scale illustrating theforward portion of the steering mechanism.

ln carrying out my a plurality of preferably similar pl comparativelysmall size arranged one above the other and connected by a suitabletrame. Beneath the lowermost plane is arranged a truck or frame providedwith running;r gear and the motor and seat for the operator. Byarranging these portions ot the device planes the running; gear.

invention l provide V nes ot substantially.perfect equilibrium isassured while the device is in motion.

rThe device provided with a propeller and propeller shaft connected tothe motor and suitable clutch mechanism is provided for connecting thedrive .vl'ieels ol' the running gear to said shalt when desired to startthe device. The front end of the machine is provided with a verticalrudder'and also a steering Wheel for directing;y the lateral course orturning of the device and these are 'operated by a single shaft wherebygreater simplicity of construction and operation is obtained. he rearend or" the device is equipped with a rudder mounted t0 swing on ahorizontal axis 'to raise or lower the device in the air and equippedwith improved means for controlling the same.

' Referring now to the drawings l, 2, 3"and 4- indicate a plurality ofsubstantiallyv reci tangular planes arranged one above the other andconnected by a suitable. frame. Any numberof planes may be employeddepending upon the' amount of weight the device is designed to carry.Each plane is provided with a peripheral trame-5 and the frames areconnected by a plurality of vertical frame' members Horizontaltransverse members 7 extending from side to side of the planes completethe frame ot the upper portion ot the device.

Arranged directly beneath the lowermost plane l is a horizontaltriangular trame consisting of the diverging members 8--8 which areunited at their forward ends on the transverse axis and connected attheir rear ends by a transverse member i). Extending downwardly from themember 9, 'adjacent the outer ends thereof are a pair of arms orbrackets l0 in the lower ends of which is mounted 'a transverseshaft llcarrying a pair of wheels 12 forming a portion of Extending downwardlyfrom the -K forward end of the triangular' trame is. sleeve 13 in whichis rotatably mounted a vertical shaft 14 carrying a fork 15 at its lowerend in, which is mounted a front wheel lo by means of which the devicemay; he steered when running; on the ground. The steering mechanism willhe described in detail hereinafter. :Arranged beneath the lewermostplane and supported from the triangular frame is a trame l? carrying amotor 18 and a seat i9 for the operator.

lili' motor 18 by suitebie geering 2Q I 2d indicate-s longitudieeliydisposedE eieft equipped' with e propeiiee 2L The shaft 20 is-mounted inbuckets 22 beneath tire lowei plane Ll. und is connected to the The'shaft ll is provided sion gearing 24 from which cel sllat 25 having itsupper in o bracket 26, or more er, ,i :et/ely in a sleeve 27 itselfjourneled in. the bracket.

.The upper end of the sleeve 27 is provided with e beveled gear 28meshing with e gear 29011 the propeller shaft, and suitable clutchmechanism 30 is provided i'orcoupling the sleeve 27 to the shaft 25 whendesired.

"Wh en the device is in operation the sieeve 2? is driven' continuouslywith the shaft and vwhen the clutch 30 is thrown into operation .rudder32 adapted to swing opone horizontel axis Ato raise or lower tiiedevice. The rudder 32 is provided with e gear 33 secured to theseme andwitlrits exis coinciding with the exis of seid rudder; and e. simiiergee-1? Y' 34 is counted iu e bracket 35 adjacent the 40 and 41 meshingseat 19 end provided wit'n e. crank er handle 36 for turning the seme. y

37 indicates e ber or red mounted. in brackets 38 and 39 end equippedwitirrscls with tlie gears 33 end 34 respectively. It 1s obvious thetbyturning;

'the gear 34 the rudder 32 will loe eieveted ori lowered as desired.

Arranged et the forward end of tiie device, pge'ferabiy between theplanes i. and .2 is a 1ude1'42 mounted to swing upon e ver tical 'axis43, for turning the device to the right or leiitas desired. Fixed to theeeigeeo 43 is e segmental loeveled gear 44 which meshes witii e. beveledpinion 45 Xed to a shaft 46. The shaft 4G is mounted in brecle .ets 47and 48 and extends diagonally downwardly toward the operetors seat endis equipped with a hand wheel 49 adjacent said seat whereby said shaftand the rudder 42 Amay be turned.

Secured to the shaft- 14 above the fork j 15 is s gear 50 'which mesheswith the gear 5i on e shaft 52. The shaft 52 is mounted in brackets 53and extends upwardly to a point adjacent the shaft 46.

54 and 55 indicate beveled gears on the shafts 52 and 46 respectively.It is obvious that by turning the shaft 46 the operator may guide themachine to the right or left whether on lend or in air and it should benoted that the turning of the shaft in one direction will direct 'themachine in the same direction whether on land or in air. A singuidingdevice therefore serves both purwees.

i Having described my invent-ion what l 'claim es new and desire tosecure by Letters Petent is:

in an aeroplane, e plurality of superimposed planes, e frame connectingseid peines, :running gear arranged beneath the ioweruiost pleine andincluding a pair of drive wheels and e steering wheel, a forwenliiyprojecting rudder mounted at the 5" he iame to swing upon a vertical nseid rudder, a` manually ope gear on said shaft meshing L.r on saidrudder7 end suitable iietween seid shaft and said ,.,s-l, substantiallyas described.

my whereof l have signed my nome to tir specification in the presence ofwitnesseso two subscrioi JHN HUGHES.

Witnesses:

B. B. life'rsoixf, liz/l. Molirro'e.

